As part of the drive to improve its ability to serve the most diverse student body of any university in the continental United States and to elevate the competitiveness of faculty for their biomedical research and environmental health studies, California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA), has set as an institutional goal the development of its various science programs, particularly the Departments of Biological Sciences and Chemistry & Biochemistry into the top-level status among all masters- and undergraduate-level institutions in the Western United States. CSULA proposes to establish a RIMI program to enhance the research productivity and competitiveness of faculty members, particularly those who are in the earlier stages of their professional development (Area of Emphasis 1). Emphasis will be placed on collaborative research projects with faculty on campus and external collaborators from several top research universities. The proposed projects will contribute towards an understanding of basic mechanisms that impact minority health and health disparities. Another goal is to establish a Biological and Environmental Analysis and Micro-Sampling (BEAMS) Laboratory wherein several state-of-the-art high-throughput biological and environmental analyzers and samplers will be added to the existing instrumental holdings of the participating departments (Area of Emphasis 2). Through aggressive recruitment of talented faculty members (particularly those from underrepresented groups), assembly of a cohort of technical support staff, and the integration of research with teaching (Area of Emphasis 3), we hope to help improve the overall research infrastructure on campus for biomedical research. The eight faculty participants, drawn from the Departments of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Biological Sciences, and Geography and Urban Analysis, and the new faculty member to be recruited, will carry out three collaborative subprojects. The junior faculty members have been quite active in scholarly activities and are exhibiting great potential of becoming prolific teacher/scholars. Their further development is in line with the goals of the RIMI program and with the growth of the University's ability to mount high-level research efforts. The CSULA-RIMI program will offer a great opportunity for expediting CSULA's institutional goal of becoming the premier campus in research and research training among all comprehensive universities, and a model Hispanic-serving institution for addressing minority health and health-related disparity issues. ? ?
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